‘The Good Wife’: Are Cary and Kalinda the New Will and Alicia?

This week’s episode of “The Good Wife,” “Death Row Tip” featured notable guest star appearances by several articles of clothing. Kalinda’s leather jacket, long a fan favorite, was joined by Alicia’s sexy lingerie and Androgynous Tutor’s insane diagonally striped leggings. The focus on apparel was fitting (get it?!) for an episode whose theme is appearances are deceiving.

The case of the week involved a death row inmate, Ricky Packer (Michael Irby),who tells a documentary filmmaker that he knows where the body of a gang member is buried and can identify the killer. When the police dig up the burial site, they find two bodies: the gang member and a woman, who turns out to be the missing girlfriend of a middle aged upper middle class man, who is promptly accused of the crime. He hires Lockhart-Gardner. The State’s Attorney’s office is prosecuting both murders, and Legal Aid is trying to get Ricky’s execution commuted. A 14 year old confesses to killing the gang member, but Kalinda (Archie Panjabi) knows that gang often gets juveniles to make false confessions.

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Lockhart-Gardner’s strategy is to prove that the gang member also accidentally killed the woman; why else would she be buried in the same place? This means they have to help Legal Aid get a stay of execution so that Packer will give them information. Diane argues that Ricky’s attorneys never argued mitigating circumstances that could have earned him a lighter sentence. The judges agree to consider it. Ricky turns out to have a loving, middle class family. The family priest is played by Mark Margolis, who was also Tio on “Breaking Bad”, so it seems like he’ll be evil, but he turns out to be a great guy. Ricky just grew up to be a man who raped and killed 14 year-old girls because he was born evil. Everyone lies at the hearing, claiming that Ricky had a lousy childhood and they get a 24 hour stay of execution. Alicia (Julianna Margulies) visits Ricky and persuades him to reveal the name of the gang member in exchange for promising to get his family to visit. When they arrive, he tells them to go to hell. It’s hard to be upset when he’s executed.

Meanwhile, Kalinda ends up in this weird flirtation with Dana (Monica Raymund) in an attempt to view footage from a security camera near the crime scene. Dana sexily checks the label on Kalinda’s leather jacket. Is this show big enough for two tough bisexuals? Or is it all an act? Dana offers her the footage in exchange for dirt on Will’s (Josh Charles) connection to the corrupt Judge Baxter. Kalinda seems to go along with this, and finds a possible suspect. Then she warns Will that the State’s Attorney’s office is after him and offers her help. Cary (Matt Czuchry) jealously asks Kalinda to stay away from Dana while they wait for the actual killer to be arrested. When shots are fired, Cary chivalrously lies on top of Kalinda to protect her. Back at his office, Cary tells her that they are releasing the Lockhart-Gardner suspect. He sexily says, “I don’t like you being in my head.” She retorts, “Then get me out.” Moments later, they are kissing, and it’s way more than just a peck. Cary ultimately pulls away. Was it just the stress of nearly being shot, or are these two the real deal?

In a hilarious B-storyline, Eli (Alan Cumming) helps potential candidate Robert (Paul Fitzgerald) deal with scandalous photos of him, as Eli succinctly puts it, pretending to fellate a Santa statue. Why does TV insist on airing Christmas themed programming before Thanksgiving? Eli suggests that he get ahead of the scandal by doing an interview about the impact of social networking on young politicians. Unfortunately, the reporter confronts him with additional photos showing him doing something vulgar to the Washington Monument. Disappointingly, this photo is not shown. Eli solves the problem by sending Robert to rehab. In politics, a sense of humor is more of a liability than a drinking problem.

Zach (Graham Phillips) and Eli’s snarky daughter Marissa (Sarah Steele) meet when Zach is again fixing the Lockhart-Gardner computers. Now Eli is having problems, too. This seems like it’s leading somewhere. Are the Feds monitoring the firm’s computers? Or is it a rival firm? Zach the player invites Marissa back to his place to learn more about computers.

Jackie (Mary Beth Peil) shows up unannounced. After witnessing Zach with a Jewish girl (he seems to be a junior Cary when it comes to liking girls who are not WASPS), and the arrival of Grace’s Androgynous Tutor in blue and green diagonally striped leggings with matching face paint, decides to investigate Alicia’s den of iniquity. She literally goes through Alicia’s dirty laundry, and is scandalized to find gorgeous lingerie. Did Alicia wear granny panties when she was with Peter? Determined to find out whether Alicia is having sex, the world’s worst mother-in-law takes Alicia’s laptop. It is only her inability to turn on a computer that stops her from accessing confidential legal files. Jackie is a Kalinda in sheep’s clothing.